Thread by @AbraarKaran

THREAD
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The key points from our recent op-ed @CNN pushing back (respectfully) against Dr. Fauci & @CDCDirector who earlier this week on #CNNTownHall were asked about #BetterMasks

Variants, precautionary principle, communication & more
cc @RanuDhillon @sri_srikrishna

https://twitter.com/AbraarKaran/status/1355597595544981505

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-new more contagious #covid19 variants could mean infection w/ less exposure time - better viral transmission needs better protection; cloth masks better than no masks, surgical better than cloth, but the bar must be raised now

-still transmit by droplets & aerosols

3/ -aerosol transmission better stopped by N95 masks (or equivalents, KF94, KN95, FFP2) or some surgical masks; electrostatic charge traps small particles; cloth masks not designed to do this

-cloth mask market & surgical mask market is poorly regulated; quality highly variable

4/ -transmission seems largely via droplets; our contact tracing is also designed *to find droplet based transmission* when we focus on 6 feet/15 minutes rules--> could underestimate aerosol contribution in public; contact tracing in many places w/ surges completely overwhelmed

4.5/ Comparing well-ventilated hospitals to poorly ventilated, crowded public spaces is a poor comparison; hospitals use regular testing, all employees required to wear at least surgical masks, & in our hospital, any #covid19 case or suspected case is seen w/ N95 mask on @zeynep

5/ @CDCDirector says that they are testing effectiveness of diff masks against new variants

If we are "still testing" then should use precautionary principle here to get high risk/ high exposure people #bettermasks while we roll out vaccinations. Masks already available

6/ -reiterating point that we are not advocating *only N95s* even if that is what news headlines seem to suggest

-Many other high filtration mask options out there (or high grade surgical+ mask fitters); needs to be federally coordinated & subsidized + brought to communities

7/ -if there is a supply issue then need to admit that and focus on fixing that (@drsanjaygupta asked this question on #CNNTownhall)

-if it is just too much right now to operationalize a #BetterMasks plan for feds, then should be open about that ("we're working on it")

8/ But saying that cloth masks as we are using now are good enough, or saying that N95s are too hard to breathe through is setting the bar way too low/is not a sufficient answer at this point

Respectfully, we will keep pushing for this in addition to vaccination rollout #covid19

cc @DrTomFrieden @ashishkjha @Bob_Wachter @rajpanjabi @nataliexdean @thehowie @ScottGottliebMD @ASlavitt @kakape @rkwadhera @kj_seung @DrEricDing @IngridKatzMD @paimadhu @jeremyphoward @j_g_allen @WeiPoints @skarlamangla @apoorva_nyc

Cc @jljcolorado @linseymarr @CarlosdelRio7 @carlzimmer @sciencecohen